Chapter 152

Chapter 152: Chapter 152

"Huh? Why are there so many people in Jubilife City today?"

Mike had barely stepped out of the station when he noticed that the streets were far more crowded than usual.

Groups of people dressed in yukata and other festival clothes were all moving in the same direction, and curiosity quickly got the better of him.

Glameow lay comfortably in his arms with the ball of red cord from the Destiny Knot held between her teeth.

"Meow?"

[Where are we going?]

"No idea," Mike admitted as he followed the crowd. "Looks like there’s some kind of event going on. We might as well check it out."

The stream of pedestrians eventually led them to a wide open area packed with stalls selling food, toys, jewelry, masks, and countless other little festival goods.

Mike looked around in surprise.

"Is this some kind of festival?"

Gengar immediately brightened.

"Gar—"

[Are we going to look around?]

"We’re already here, so of course we are."

Mike glanced toward the others.

"Do you guys want to stay with me, or should I give everyone spending money and let you explore on your own?"

Every Pokémon chose to stay with him.

That settled it.

Their first destination was naturally the food stalls.

Takoyaki, grilled dishes, tempura, sweets—the entire area smelled good enough that Gengar looked ready to abandon all financial restraint.

Mike bought a fried shrimp and took one bite before deciding he had already eaten enough snacks for the moment.

He handed the rest to Gengar, who showed absolutely no concern about Mike having bitten it first and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth with obvious satisfaction.

After working their way through the food, Mike moved on to a stall selling small accessories.

He studied the neatly arranged decorations with surprising seriousness, eventually picking up a pink bow-shaped headband and gently placing it on Glameow’s head.

Mike stared.

Glameow stared back.

The pink really didn’t suit her.

"Nope."

He took it off and returned it.

Gengar, meanwhile, had discovered a rack of masks.

He inspected them carefully before selecting five, hugging them against his chest, and proudly paying with his own allowance.

"Gar—"

[These are for everyone.]

He distributed the masks among Mike, Snivy, Beedrill, and Glameow before putting his own on.

Unfortunately, the mask was much too small for Gengar’s enormous round face and barely covered half of it.

Mike looked him over with exaggerated seriousness.

"So today you’re the mysterious masked master?"

Gengar immediately pulled out his thin bamboo staff, held it solemnly against his chest, and nodded.

"Then I’m entrusting security to the great masked Gengar for the rest of the evening."

Gengar thumped his chest confidently.

Consider it handled.

While laughing, Mike put on the mask Gengar had bought him and helped Glameow with hers before chatting with the stall owner, a middle-aged man whose business had been fairly quiet before Gengar’s purchase.

"Pretty lively tonight," Mike remarked, his voice slightly muffled through the mask.

"Of course it is."

The owner smiled.

"Today is Jubilife City’s annual fireworks festival."

Mike paused.

"Fireworks festival?"

The man looked mildly surprised.

"You didn’t know?"

"Honestly, I only just arrived. We took the sky train into Jubilife, saw everyone heading this way, and followed along."

"Ah, you’re visiting from somewhere else. That explains it."

The owner nodded.

"This festival only happens once a year, so if you’ve happened to arrive today, make the most of it. Jubilife’s fireworks are some of the best around."

"Thanks. That’s exactly what we plan to do."

Mike gave him a polite nod and continued toward the riverside with his Pokémon.

A fireworks festival.

He had come back to Jubilife on a whim simply because everyone wanted to try riding the train, yet somehow they had arrived on exactly the right day.

Mike looked toward Gengar and the others.

"Let’s keep browsing for a while, then go watch the fireworks. Sound good?"

"Gar—"

[YEAH!]

...

By the time they finally headed toward the river, the last traces of sunset were disappearing from the sky.

The riverside was already packed.

Rows of paper lanterns hung above the streets, filling the area with warm orange light, and even stray Pokémon that normally struggled to find enough food had apparently eaten well tonight thanks to generous visitors and leftover festival snacks.

Food stalls lined the streets in every direction. Grilled dishes hissed over hot plates, while the sweet scents of shaved ice and candied apples mixed with the warm summer breeze.

Vendors shouted over one another, children laughed, and conversations between people and Pokémon blended together into one continuous festival hum.

Along the riverbank, some families and groups of friends had spread blankets on the grass and settled in to wait, while others wandered slowly beside their Pokémon, yukata sleeves and hair ornaments stirring gently whenever the breeze passed.

Mike chose not to squeeze into the crowded riverbank itself.

Instead, he and his Pokémon stopped beneath a streetlamp farther back, where they could still see the sky clearly without fighting for space.

Officer Jenny patrols were everywhere, accompanied by Arcanine and other police Pokémon, carefully controlling the crowd to prevent accidents or sudden incidents.

As people gradually settled into their chosen places and stopped moving around so much, one familiar Officer Jenny wiped the sweat from her forehead and noticed Mike.

Joy walked over towards him.

"What are you doing here?"

Mike laughed.

"I had nothing planned today, so we decided to try the sky train. None of us had ever ridden one before."

He gestured vaguely behind himself.

"I thought about taking it toward Eterna City, but since we haven’t actually traveled there yet, skipping the route by train didn’t feel right. So we came back to Jubilife instead."

He looked toward the festival.

"Apparently my timing was pretty good."

Joy laughed.

"You got lucky, all right."

Then she sighed.

"Not so lucky for those of us working tonight. Festivals are exhausting."

"Hang in there."

Joy waved it off.

"Nicole and Marill are over there. Want me to take you to them?"

Mike looked at the dense crowd and shook his head.

"No need. They finally found a decent spot, and I don’t want to make them move. I’ll visit properly next time I’m back in Jubilife."

"Fair enough. Oh, by the way, Nicole and Marill visited Twinleaf Town recently."

Mike looked surprised.

"She said Marill absolutely loved your grandmother’s place. Apparently Marill and your grandma became gardening buddies despite the age difference."

Mike laughed.

"Grandma never mentioned that."

"Nicole said she’s doing well. They stayed there for several days and only came back the day before yesterday."

"That’s good to hear."

Several Murkrow landed on the streetlamp above them and tilted their heads curiously at the enormous gathering below, apparently wondering why so many humans had suddenly crowded into one place.

Joy gave Mike another look.

"I watched your livestream earlier, by the way. You never mentioned you were secretly a Pokémon researcher too."

Mike shrugged.

"I mostly came up with the idea and helped organize the experiment."

Then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Wait. Joy, shouldn’t you be insanely busy today? How did you have time to watch my livestream?"

Joy looked completely unashamed.

"Who says you can’t slack off occasionally while you’re working?"

Mike stared.

"Lucian does it all the time."

She continued without hesitation.

"Besides, the fireworks festival doesn’t really get busy until evening. Daytime was fairly quiet, and I’m not working alone. I have plenty of officers under me."

Mike fell silent.

This was not the first time Joy had openly admitted to slacking off on duty with complete confidence.

"Of course you would say that."

Joy smiled proudly.

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

"I’m pretty sure it wasn’t one."

"I’ve decided it was."

They both laughed.

Unfortunately, an event this large was always going to create trouble eventually.

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Bonus cause i dont play apex today, enjoy!